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Santos makes further spending cuts

Energy giant Santos is again cutting 2015 capex, and has narrowed its annual production guidance.

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Source: AAP


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Oil and gas producer Santos is making further spending cuts as falling oil prices dent revenue.

There's been a 38 per cent fall in the company's average realised oil price over the nine months to September, outweighing higher production and lower costs to decrease sales revenue by 18 per cent.

Santos is responding by cutting 2015 capital expenditure by another 10 per cent to $1.8 billion, half the $3.6 billion spent in 2014.

"We said that we would produce more for less and this quarter's figures are a strong reflection of that," chief executive David Knox said in the company's third quarter production report.

"Year to date production is up 10 per cent while capex is down 55 per cent and unit production costs are down 15 per cent."

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Santos has cut close to 800 jobs since November as part of its cost cutting.

It also downgraded its production forecast for the year, because of lower than expected domestic orders for gas from its newly commissioned $18.5 billion Gladstone LNG project in Queensland.

Unscheduled maintenance at two other projects has also hampered production.

Output is now set to be in the range of 57 to 59 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), compared to the previous guidance range of 57 to 64 mmboe.

Mr Knox, who in August decided to resign once a replacement could be found, remains optimistic about the company's prospects, again highlighting the potential of the GLNG project.

"GLNG is the final piece of our robust LNG portfolio, which will provide a strong source of revenue for decades to come," he said.

Santos began a strategic review of its assets in August in response to its shrinking market value.

It revealed on Thursday it has since rejected a $7.1 billion takeover offer from an investment fund backed by members of the ruling families of Brunei and the United Arab Emirates, as the offer undervalued the company.

Santos shares were up 16 cents, or 2.5 per cent, at $6.48 at 1230 AEDT, after surging 16 per cent on Thursday's news of takeover interest.


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